Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Yep, It's a Crime

Much has been discussed about Hillary's email debacle. Arguments about whether or not she committed a crime by using a private email server not on government property in an unsecured location rages today. However, the law is very clear.

It is a crime.

18 U.S. Code para. 793(f) says:

Whoever, being entrusted with or having lawful possession or control of
any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph,
photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument,
appliance, note, or information, relating to the national defense, (1)
through gross negligence permits the same to be removed from its proper
place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of his trust, or to
be lost, stolen, abstracted, or destroyed, or (2) having knowledge that
the same has been illegally removed from its proper place of custody or
delivered to anyone in violation of its trust, or lost, or stolen,
abstracted, or destroyed, and fails to make prompt report of such loss,
theft, abstraction, or destruction to his superior officer—Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

"Gross negligence is a conscious and voluntary disregard
of the need to use reasonable care, which is likely to cause
foreseeable grave injury or harm to persons, property, or both." Tell me how having a private server on her personal property isn't grossly negligent, knowing that her email would be going through it. And, although the story about the server being stored in a bathroom has since been denounced as inaccurate, as the Secretary of State of the United States, how could she believe that every bit of communication would be secure if it wasn't on government property?

The argument that other officials have used private servers does not legitimize her actions. It only points out a massive flaw in the system. Somewhere, sometime, this practice has to stop. Whether or not Hillary is prosecuted, this kind of lapse in security needs to be addressed.

The Commentator

I have been writing speculative fiction for over 40 years, but only
recently have I been able to pursue it full-time. After retiring from
my position as an air traffic controller, I decided to devote myself to
my writing, not realizing I was trading one stressful career for
another. Nevertheless, through my short fiction and novels, at least I
have an outlet for my obsession with the written word.